Khensani Maseko, the Rhodes University student and rape victim who died in apparent suicide. Picture: Twitter.
Speaking on the death of Rhodes University student Khensani Maseko on Sunday, Malema says he has never denied men are trash, since men have declared war on women.
Maseko, who was raped by her then boyfriend in May, died in an apparent suicide at her family home on Friday. She was a member of the EFF.
Malema told the SABC’s JJ Tabane that the EFF had a permanent campaign to combat violence against women.
He spoke out about the fact that Maseko was raped by her partner, and the EFF would not tolerate abusers in their ranks.
READ MORE: Khensani Maseko, Rhodes student allegedly raped by her boyfriend, commits suicide
“If you are a fighter and you beat up a woman, you must know you have signed your resignation letter,” he said.
“We don’t want such cowards among us. There are so many issues that confront us, and beating women cannot be one of those issues.”
Malema also mentioned the murder of Karabo Mokoena by Sandile Mantsoe, saying: “You kill them, put them in a dustbin; burn them; you dump them the same way you dump rubbish. So there’s something wrong with us. We are a country suffering from a serious depression.”
In May 2017, the EFF leader expressed sadness over the news that Karabo Mokoena, a young woman who was missing for two weeks, was found killed and burned, allegedly by a man close to her.
READ MORE: Malema: Today I’m not proud to be a South African man
Taking to social media at the time, Malema said the day of Mokoena’s death was a sad one for the country, especially for young women, who lived in fear of the men around them.
The announcement of the death inspired the spread of the hashtag #MenAreTrash, which trended on Twitter for several days, with women sharing stories of how they suffered abuse at the hands of the same men who promised to protect them.
“Today I’m not proud to be South African man. RIPKarabo,” Malema said, reacting to the stories shared on social media.
The EFF also released a statement at the time, condemning the brutal murder and daily violence against women.
“There is indeed no other way to explain this tragedy than to point to the dominant and violent patriarchal order in South Africa. Men have grown accustomed to the violent abuse and murder of women. Only a culture that hates women would treat them with so much disdain and violence.”
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